What Is Google Glass and How Does It Work

After much anticipation, Google Glass has finally shipped out to eager Explorers, who have begun posting their thoughts and experiences on the web. What this also ways is that we finally take a full understanding about the exact features included with Google Glass, and how the picayune device works.

So here'south a breakdown of everything we know most Google Drinking glass, and how exactly it all works.

Specs

Firstly, here'south a quick reminder of the specs, and what Google Drinking glass is capable of. The unspecified resolution brandish works using a modest projector embedded in the headset, which Google claims is the equivalent of a 25-inch loftier definition screen seen from viii anxiety away. There's a 5-megapixel camera for photographs, which is likewise capable of capturing video at 720p. There'south plenty of room to store these snaps, cheers to the built-in 16GB of retentivity (12GB is available to the user), which is synced with Google deject storage as well.

There are no speakers or sound jack ports on Google Glass. Instead, audio is transferred to the wearer via a conduction transducer which sends vibrations through the bones in your head, which we'll comprehend a piddling later.

Google Glass also comes with the usual Wi-Fi 802.11b/m connectivity and is Bluetooth 4.0 compatible.

My Glass App

Equally as of import equally the actual hardware is the My Glass app which accompanies the headset. This app is responsible for controlling the connection between your smartphone and Google Glass, likewise as allowing to you lot receive calls, etc.

Equally Google Glass doesn't take a mobile antenna or GPS tracking, My Glass is essential if you desire to send and receive SMS from Google Drinking glass, employ a information connection, or navigate using GPS. Usually Glass volition connect with your smartphone via Bluetooth, when out of Wi-Fi range, in gild to share and sync this information. However, if your mobile data plans supports tethering, then y'all can also connect Drinking glass to your smartphone using that method instead.

I suppose y'all could call up of this as an avant-garde hands-free Bluetooth kit or something equivalent to a super smart smartwatch. Google Glass isn't actually making calls or sending letters, instead these are transferred to and from your smartphone.

Hardware

Ok that'southward the simple stuff, just how exactly does Google Glass attain its vision? To fully understand simply what makes Google Drinking glass tick we'll need to delve a footling deeper into exactly how it works, and how this affects the user experience.

Brandish: Projection

You might presume that a head mounted display would try to identify a screen in front end of the eye for users to look at. Google Drinking glass even appears to house a tiny little display in front of the eye. However, there are a few bug with that sort of technology, mainly due to the fact that focusing on objects at very shut range is near incommunicable. Instead Google Glass works past beaming an image directly onto the retina at the dorsum of your eye.

The clever virtual HUD overlay is actually based on quite a uncomplicated premise: there's a mini-projector located inside Google Glass which projects an prototype onto a semi-transparent prism. As the prism is semi-transparent, the projector'southward image is reflected into the user'southward retina whilst still assuasive for regular light to laissez passer through the prism and into the eye.

As everyone's faces and eyes are slightly different, Google Glass allows for the bending of the prism to be adjusted slightly in club to obtain optimal focus for the project prototype.

If yous haven't already seen this handy infographic then you should check it out, as that will hopefully make everything crystal clear.

Sound: Bone-conduction

Perhaps the most interesting slice of engineering science used in Google Drinking glass, especially for an sound vitrify like myself, is the use of bone conduction in order to transmit audio to the wearer's ear.

The remarkable matter is that we're all used to hearing this sort of thing every fourth dimension nosotros talk. Vibrations in the throat travel through the more ridged textile of our jaw and cheekbones, which are continued upwardly to the inner workings of the ear.

The engineering used in Google Glass works in much the same way, sending vibrations through your bones to the inner ear. Usually audio waves pass through the auditory canal and on to the eardrum, which vibrates when exposed to the energy from sound waves. On the other side of the eardrum in that location are 3 pocket-sized basic, the ossicles, which transmit the vibration to the cochlea. The cochlea is tiny a fluid-filled construction which contains miniscule hair like stereovilli, which are stimulated by vibrations and catechumen the energy to electric impulses that are sent along the auditory nervus to the encephalon.

When the bones vibrate the audio reaches the cochlea simply as it would when sound waves laissez passer through the middle ear and vibrate the eardrum. And so fifty-fifty though the method of transmission is different, the sound is detected by the nerves and transmitted to the brain in exactly the aforementioned manner.

Touchpad

Navigation was e'er going to be a primal issue for Google Drinking glass. Without keys or a touch screen, finding your way to many of the behind the scenes options and settings would exist a pain. Fortunately Google Glass includes a touchpad on the right hand side, merely backside the camera, which adds this important functionality.

The touchpad is used for accessing more advanced menu options and context sensitive options similar sharing, deleting, etc. Tapping the touchpad will grant users admission to menus, and swiping backwards or frontwards along the touchpad is used to navigate. To abolish or dorsum out of sure actions users need slide their finger from the top to the lesser of the touchpad.

The touchpad is also used for voice calls, user's swipe up and tap to accept incoming calls and swipe down to turn down, same thing for hanging up.

Capture button

On top of navigating your way through various menus, voice commands aren't always necessarily the fastest or about appropriate method of performing a certain task. Accept photographs or video for example, clicking a push is simpler and faster than speaking a command. But the Google engineers foresaw this problem, and accept included a push specifically for taking pictures and recording video.

There's a piddling capture button on the right side of the headset, which can be pressed in one case to accept a quick snapshot, or held downwardly for one 2d to start recording a 10 second video.

Simply that's enough virtually hardware functionality; turn to the side by side page to see how Google Glass' software goes about performing everyday tasks.

Software

Past now we all know how Google Glass works, at least equally far as putting it on your head and transmitting information from device to user. But the real functionality lies in the software.

Voice commands

I'm sure y'all've all seen the videos showing off the ease in which users can direct Google Glass to perform certain actions. This is the cadre of the Google Drinking glass experience, vocalization commands will be the main fashion to get things done. All of the most mutual actions you're probable to undertake using Google Glass can all be achieved through the utilise of voice commands. All the tasks start with the phrase "ok glass", followed by whatever y'all'd like Google Glass to practise.

Pictures and video tin already be captured with the dedicated button, only if you're feeling also lazy to attain up to eye level y'all tin can always only issue a vocalization. "Ok glass, accept a picture" volition take a quick snapshot and display a preview of it, whilst "ok drinking glass, record a video" will start a 10 2d video capture. Longer videos can exist recorded by tapping the touchpad and selecting "extend" from the menu.

By now I'one thousand certain you get the thought, simply there are quite a few more than commands to go through. "Ok glass, get directions to" volition open up upward the navigation tool, providing you've synced up Google Glass using the My Glass app. You tin can navigate to specific places, or utilise the local search type feature to find nearby businesses. The touchpad is used to roll through the available results and to switch between walking or biking directions.

"Ok glass, ship a message to" and "make a phone call to" are pretty self explanatory. Providing you've set up everything up with the My Glass app and are connected to your smartphone via Bluetooth you'll have full access to SMS and mobile calls.

For Google+ users at that place's also the handy "ok glass, hang out with" feature, which will start a Google+ Hangout with your specified friend. And finally there's "othousand Glass, Google". Those familiar with Google At present will probably already take a experience for how the search functions works, where simple questions can be posed to the device and sure answers will receive a spoken or menu response, whilst others will render a web result.

Android/Google Now

Those of you lot with smartphones or tablets running Jelly Bean are no uncertainty familiar with the ever so user-friendly Google Now, which is too the basis for Google Glass's information on demand feature. Rather than having to inquire for specific pieces of information, Google Glass can and will occasionally brandish small cards of relevant information depending on when it thinks you'll need information technology.

At this fourth dimension, Google At present Glassware includes calendar appointments, flight information (if you lot have Gmail and web history enabled), places, sports results, stocks prices, and weather forecasts and updates.

Google Now works on Google Glass due to the fact that it'south running Android. Although we don't know exactly which version, I suppose it's going to be Jelly Edible bean at least. This as well means that developers should accept an easier time creating and adapting existing apps for use with Google Glass.

Timeline Cards

All of the actions washed and received by Google Glass are placed in a timeline, which works as the primary interface when interacting with Glass. Similar to the changes made to Facebook a while dorsum, whatever pictures y'all take, calls yous miss, and notifications yous receive will all be recorded in chronological order for y'all to review if need be. Swiping the touchpad from the homepage will let you to motility forward and backward in time through your history.

This mode you tin can go back and share pictures you've taken previously, and find previous notifications, translations, or cards based on the order in which they were received. Here's a video showing some of the functions which can exist performed using cards:

http://www.youtube.com/scout?v=q6HwZtnVKAQ

Others

There's likewise a bunch of other clever software features which assistance make Google Glass more than practical. In that location's the "head wake" setting which will wake upwards the display by tilting your head rather than having to press the touchpad. You tin even specify how far y'all can tilt before the headset wakes upwardly. "On head detection" will activate Glass when information technology senses yous've put it on, there'southward features for allowing guests to use the device, and probably tons of other stuff subconscious abroad.

Phew, I retrieve that's finally everything. If you stuck through that information overload, hopefully you at present have a total insight into Google Glass and now know what to wait if yous e'er discover yourself owning a pair. Now we just accept to wait another year before we can examination all this out for ourselves.